


Princes of Air

by Mikkeneko



Category: Norse Mythology, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Contest Entry, Dragons, Gore, Love Triangles, M/M, Violence, ancient norse gods don't have a very good grasp on the theory of economic scarcity, completely requited love if yuui would stop being such an ass, cruelty to people shapeshifted into otters, lovelorn stupidity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-31
Updated: 2013-04-10
Packaged: 2017-12-07 01:13:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 19,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/742395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikkeneko/pseuds/Mikkeneko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As a prince of the Aesir, the godlike beings that ruled over the Nine Realms from above, Kurogane Stormcaller should have little enough to worry him besides hunting, feasting, and calling down lightning to smite his unlucky foes. But Kurogane has to deal with not one, but two Gods of Mischief, and that's enough of a headache for even a god...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sort-of fusion of Tsubasa Chronicles with Norse mythology. And when I say "sort of fusion" I mean it's a horrible mash-up of actual Norse myth, Norse myth as bastardized through the MCU, and shit I just plain made up.
> 
> Written for the Kurofai 2013 Spring Olympics contest. I was on Team Fantasy, and the theme was "Ghost in the Machine."

It was a glorious spring day in Asgard, which was no special occasion; the weather in Asgard was always glorious. The same could not be said for Jotunheim, which was wet and blustery more days than not: but that distant and chilly realm was in its late summer now, the weather unusually temperate as the leaves of the grand trees began to show their colors. It was also the time of year that the great elk would be at their peak size - twelve feet tall at the massive, muscular shoulders and with a spread of antlers nearly the same across. It was a rare opportunity for hunting, and not one to be missed.

"Well, what are we just standing around for?" Eagle said, pacing back and forth across the dusty forecourt. "It's already half noon! The longer we stand here and fritter away time, the shorter the hours of daylight we have to hunt!"

Lantis, seated on a sun-warmed stone bench by the wall, picked up a chunk of rock and lazily batted it towards his friend, who blocked the impromptu missile with a scowl. "Relax," Lantis advised him. "Time moves differently in the other realms, as well you know. It's still morning in Jotunheim."

"We were supposed to be there at dawn!" Eagle protested. His other friend, Geo, grinned at him from his half-reclining position on the bench.

"And whose fault was it that we were not?" he challenged. "Who stayed up so late last night with drinking and carousing that they were unable to leave their bed till only a few hours ago?"

"You did," the other two shot back in unison, and Geo rolled his eyes

"Yes, all right, I did. But you two  _also_  did, so quit complaining."

That, Kurogane thought regretfully as he listened to the three companions natter on, was unlikely to ever happen. Complaining, however good-heartedly, and sniping at each other was the primary pastime of the Warriors Three. Kurogane himself did not tend to indulge in it, since he had never been much for words and did not see the point of endless, circuitous bickering. He much preferred to get straight to the heart of the matter, and once a decision was made, did not enjoy spending time second-guessing himself. That straightforward determination, along with his unmatchable skill at arms, had somehow turned him into the leader of their small group.

Well, that and the fact that he was Kurogane Stormcaller, son of Ashura All-Father, King of all Asgard, might have had something to do with it.

But not much, really. Ashura had reigned for over a thousand years and looked like to reign for a thousand more, unless a new war or palace intrigue cropped up that was able to do what the last millennium's worth hadn't. And since social hierarchy in Asgard was more based on seniority and accomplishments on the battlefield than strict blood rank, Kurogane himself was still considered a junior - and not a leader - in the court.

That was all right with Kurogane. He fingered the hilt of his weapon thoughtfully, tracing the ridges and sharp points of the silver dragon that wound its way around the thick and heavy grip. It was a lifelike (though much smaller) representation of the great wyrm Eingeirr, from whose horns the handle for Ginryuu had been carved. The handle had broken when the hammer smashed into the wyrm's brain, and so it had been reforged in honor of the fallen foe, and in honor of the warrior who slew him.

He would never be content to rest on the rank of his birth; he fully intended to gain enough deeds to his name to command respect at all levels of the court. When they met in battle, he would prove himself in battle. When there was no battle, he would prove himself on the hunt.

Or at least he would if they ever  _got moving_.

"So what are we waiting for?" Kurogane said. The position of leadership might have fallen to him, but he didn't really have the patience for organization. "Is someone else supposed to be coming?"

"The twins," Kendappa explained. She was the only woman among the group, female warriors being somewhat rare among Asgard; but anyone who tried to insult her femininity (or even use the word as an insult in her presence) would very, very quickly come to regret it. She was fast and vicious and Kurogane rather liked her, although not perhaps in the way his parents might have hoped for. Nor did she love him in return as anything more than a comrade-in-arms, for though there was little that Kendappa admired more than strength, there was absolutely nothing and no one she loved more than glory.

"What, seriously?" Geo scoffed. "Someone managed to get Yuui away from his dusty pile of books long enough to agree to go hunting?"

"It's not Yuui who wanted to go, it's Fai," Kendappa said.

Lantis groaned aloud. "Everybody check your shoes in the morning," he said. "If Fai is dragging Yuui along where he doesn't want to go, he's sure to take it out on all of us."

"Who thought this was a good idea, again?" Eagle grumbled.

"He's a good hunter," Kurogane said, "and a good warrior."

"Yeah, if you can get Fai to stop chattering for long enough to aim a bow," Eagle said, "or keep Yuui's knives out of your -"

Kurogane glared at him, and Eagle shut his mouth with an audible click. "Enough gossip," Kurogane growled. "I'm not interested in hearing you speak ill of Yuui in my presence.  _Or_  Fai," he added.

"Well, of course not," Geo muttered, low enough that he could at least pretend he hadn't meant to be heard, "they're your brothers."

Kurogane grimaced at the reminder. "Not by blood," he shot back, and it was true; although they were all technically sons of Ashura, no one comparing him to the twins would ever dream that they were related. Furthermore, they hadn't been raised together. They were of a generation older than his, and grown before he'd ever been born; if it came to ties of kin, they were more like uncles than brothers. Distant, adopted,  _eccentric_ uncles.

The twins. Referred to as a collective by pretty much everyone in Asgard, they had begun their lives as a pair of sickly, undersized _hrimthurs_ infants brought back by Ashura after a war with the giants of Niflheim. He never explained to anyone how he had found them or why he'd decided to take them as his wards, but they'd clung to him at first, then slowly adapted to life at court. The realm of Asgard had hardly a moment's peace since then.

Fai Silvertongue. Yuui Liesmith. Patron gods of mischief and cunning; all these epithets were given to each of the brothers in recognition of their quick-worded ways. Slender and pale compared to the hearty Aesir, the twins were adept at magic and much more interested in knowledge for its own sake than their more boisterous adopted kin. They'd taken to plaguing and aiding the Aesir by turns, playing mischievous tricks and practical jokes that sometimes went too far and required their own cleverness to clean up afterwards.

It had been Yuui who cut off Kendappa's hair when she was but a girl, as vengeance for a slight; and then Fai who used a spell to grow it back again, only to protest his innocence when it grew back night-dark instead of gold. It had been Fai who'd sweet-talked the rampaging giant Ótr into taking the shape of an otter in order to prove his skill at swimming; and then Yuui who'd captured him in a net of woven thistle, only to bash his head in with a stone as soon as he'd been brought to land.

Now full grown, they had not lost their powerful propensity for magic, but their mischief - particularly Yuui's - had taken on a darker, more violent tone. Perhaps it was Ashura's fault - or all of theirs, really - for failing to punish Yuui properly, but it was difficult to mete out fair punishment for Yuui's deeds when Fai must also suffer for them.

The bickering of the Warriors Three had fallen to a comfortable background murmur; Kendappa had taken out a strop of leather, and was using it to sharpen her hunting knife. But Kurogane's hearing, preternaturally sharp, caught the light quick patter of footsteps rounding the stone-paved walkway into the courtyard where they gathered. He turned his head, and at his sudden focus of attention his companions also looked up, their words drying up.

A slender, pale figure came traipsing around the corner into view, the bright midmorning sunlight gleaming off his ash-blond hair. He wore a costume of pale linens and hunting leathers in a dark forest green, and slung the slack length of his unstrung bow across his chest as he walked. He stooped for a moment to struggle with the fastening on his boots, and when he straightened up again the clear light shone brilliantly on the pale silver pools of his eyes.

A covert sigh of relief went out of the assembled group as Fai's luminous grey eyes and wide beaming smile came into view, and everyone relaxed. "Yoo-hoo," Fai called out, his voice light and airy. "Sorry I'm late! Are we all ready to go to Jotunheim and have a _marvelous_  day?"

"Of course we're ready; we were all waiting for you! It took you long enough to drag your lazy ass to drag out of bed," Kendappa said sharply. Fai just smiled, able as ever to deflect even the most acid criticism without turning a hair.

"I just wanted to make sure that everyone had  _quite recovered_  from last night's fun?" Fai cooed, batting his lashes at the Warriors Three, who variously snorted, groaned, and shook their heads. Fai turned his sly smile next to Kurogane, cocking his head slightly to the side as though enjoying his own private joke. It was a look that never failed to leave Kurogane unnerved and uneasy in his own skin. "And how about you, Kuro-thunder? I hope you don't plan to rain on everybody's parade."

Kurogane set his jaw and refused to rise to the bait. He felt a fizzle of the old, familiar irritation at the nicknames, but he'd long since passed the point of reacting to them (besides, that would only encourage the trickster to come up with more ridiculous ones.)

"Let's get moving," he said shortly, coming to his feet and striding forward towards the gate in the walls encircling Asgard; the others followed his lead.

* * *

No matter how many times he came to Jotunheim, Kurogane could never quite shake the feeling of intimidated awe that came from stepping under the canopy of gigantic trees. All of the Realms bore some kinship to each other, and in  _form_  the bones of Jotunheim were not unlike that of Asgard. But the sheer  _scale_  of it was what really made the difference. Everything on Jotunheim was just  _bigger,_  from the steep jagged crags of the rocky foothills leading up to the looming white-crusted mountain range, to the mammoth trees that towered a hundred feet over their heads, each trunk so thick it would take ten men hands-around to encircle them. The cool breath of winter was never far off in this land; even with the summer sun high in the sky overhead, the dark green shadows of the forest enfolded them and carried frost on their breath.

The game, too, was formed of the same prodigious measurements; that was what made Jotunheim the best (and most challenging) hunting grounds. Before long they chanced upon a track made in the cool loam and pine needle bed of the forest floor; a jagged gouge in one of the trees nearby still leaked sap from the hours-old wound, well above any of their head-height.

Fai was the best tracker of the group, although they all had some lesser or greater skill in the area; when he put aside his clowning long enough to really attend to his task, the silliness fell away and left a cool focused expression that transformed his features. Kurogane found himself unable to pay it no mind, and was glad of the usual bickering and play-fighting among his companions that kept any of them from noticing where his attention had strayed.

The morning passed swiftly in their hunt, in good company and good exercise, with the promise of a thrilling struggle at the end of it keeping tedium and frustration away. Judging by the impression made on some of the softer patches of ground, their quarry was a beast of prodigious growth and weight - and the solitary track of the beast, as well as the occasional antler-marks left on passing trees, indicated it was a male in full-growth, a buck wandering its solitary course as the great deer tender to do when not in season.

At last the signs of the trail began to grow fresh, and the horsing around dropped away as the hunting party began to focus more on the task at hand. As light glimmered between the tree-trunks ahead of them Fai drew up to a halt, and silently indicated a forest clearing up ahead.

The six of them fanned out, dropping into their accustomed roles. As the Warriors Three and Kendappa melted out of sight between the trees, moving to surround the clearing in a loose ring, Kurogane stayed within sight of Fai. The blond moved in precise, practiced motions to unsling the bow from across his chest and step through it, bending the wood backwards to slip the loop of string over the horn. With the bow newly taut and ready, Fai slipped an arrow from the quiver at his back and laid it lightly along the string, moving silently forward to the edge of the trees.

The hart stood at the far edge of the clearing, head lowered as he browsed the herbaceous growth that sprung up in the sunny meadow. Even at the haunch he stood taller than Kurogane, and his shoulders rose half again as high to the bulky lump of muscle at his neck. As he raised his head, it was apparent that he needed every pound of that muscle in order to compensate for the enormous rack of antlers that sprung from his head; though intended for display, and competition with other rivals of the forest, they would make a more than suitable weapon to crush and gore an unwary hunter.

Since Fai's weapon was purely long-ranged, it made sense for him to take the first shot; but if he missed a fatal shot, as was likely given the bulk of the beast, the maddened animal might well charge him. It might also charge in any other direction, hence the loose net formed by the other hunters - but Kurogane made sure to place himself at hand, so that he could swing Ginryuu in a deadly arc before the animal got close enough to pin Fai against the massive tree trunk and crush the life from him.

It was only a practical matter, Kurogane told himself firmly, and forced his head to turn away so he would watch the quarry in front of him instead of staring mesmerized by the silhouette made by Fai's body as he raised the arrow and bent back the bow. A graceful curve of pale white, like the new moon rising in the evening sky; he looked like some primal avatar of the hunt.

With every sense tensed to the limit, strained to attention as they narrowed their focus on the quarry, it took Kurogane a moment to register the loud  _crack_  of a branch breaking. The stag's head came up suddenly, the antlers slashing at the air as its nostrils flared deep, long legs tensing as it poised for flight. Kurogane grabbed at Ginryuu's haft, mouthing silent curses for whichever of his hunting companions had been so careless -

Until his brain caught up with his ears, and he realized that  _none of them had gone in that direction at all._

Kurogane's arm snapped back, and he hurled Ginryuu forward with a swift and powerful blow. She hurtled across the clearing and did not falter when she came to the line of trees, smashing through thick trunks as though they were no more than toothpicks -

A howl set up in the underbrush, the sound of it enough to freeze Kurogane's blood. The stag took flight, but neither Kurogane nor his companions had any attention to spare for it; from the ruin of the treeline on the other side of the clearing, a rush of burly bodies fell upon them like an avalanche.

"Ambush!" Geo's powerful voice bellowed out from the far side of the clearing, and Kurogane cursed as he called Ginryuu back to his hand. They'd been too attentive, damn it - too focused on their play and on the impending success of the hunt. They hadn't even noticed when the hunters had become the hunted.

Because of course the  _other_  great danger of Jotunheim, aside from the monstrously-scaled beasts that lived there, were the giants. They had inhabited its rocky crags and forested mountains for time out of mind, and though they built great halls of their own, they had no care for the niceties of civilized men. They were as likely to seize and devour upon a traveler, or make sport of them, than offer him hospitality - and all too often they grew restless even in the great expanse of their own territory and poured out onto the other realms, rampaging and pillaging until warriors of one realm or another could put a stop to them. It was Asgard, more often than not, which sent a band of warriors to put down rampaging giants - each realm had their own arts of war, but few were so skilled at it (or so eager for blood) as the Aesir.

The constant games of raid and reprisal did nothing to improve the relationship between Jotunheim and Asgard, and no giant would pass up the opportunity to revenge themselves on a traveling party of Aesir. They should have been more careful, they'd let the vast emptiness of Jotunheim lull them into a false sense of safety -  _how long_  had the giants been tracking them..?

Kurogane counted four giants, looming tall as houses, their torsos mottled with the grey and brown of the earth and gleaming at the edges with jagged quartzite.  _Stone giants,_  Kurogane thought with no small grimness; at least they need not fear the deadly lightning touch of storm giants, nor the creeping frost of the  _hrimthurs,_  but the skin of a stone giant was as tough as the earth which had spawned it, and the strength of the mountains was in their bones. This would not be an easy fight.

Their band of six outnumbered the giants by three to two, but the superior strength and toughness of their opponents made that no guarantee of victory - it was generally agreed-upon tactics not to engage giants at all unless you had at least double their might. Three were of average height for a giant (which meant they were only twice as tall as Kurogane) and seemed similarly armed, but one bulked head and shoulders above his fellows and bore a wicked double-ended shiv.

Kurogane marked that one for his opponent, and saw his friends scattering into their own battle formation: Eagle, Geo and Lantis surrounded one enemy, keeping him off-balance and distracted by taunts and catcalls. No matter which way the giant faced, one warrior stood his ground against the giant's attack while two more rushed against his flank and rear. Kendappa faced off against a second, and even from this distance Kurogane could see the grin that flashed in her face and hear the ripple of laughter as she tossed her sword-hilt from one hand to another in anticipation of battle. She was smaller, slimmer, and darker than her companions, but any opponent who read that as a weakness would soon get the worst - and last - surprise of his lifetime.

The last unengaged giant was advancing against Fai, pinning him back against one of the giant tree-trunks; Fai held his bow, useless at this short range, tight between his two hands like a stave. Just as the giant got within range of him, however, and raised one thick-muscled arm to strike, Fai's form suddenly rippled and vanished. The heavy sword passed harmlessly through thin air where his neck had been and buried itself deeply within the tree trunk.

Kurogane bit back the growl that wanted to escape him; Fai was a sorcerer, strong in illusions and deceptions but not in close combat. As long as he could keep himself out of danger, and hopefully keep his opponent engaged with illusions, they could finish off the fourth giant later.

And then he had no more time for watching his companions fight, as the largest giant was upon him, roaring in a voice like boulders grinding into salt.

The giant swung a fist the size of a tree (well, a non-Jotunheim tree) and Kurogane dodged the first blow. Despite his hulking size, though, Kurogane's opponent was fast and agile; his other hand came around with a huge, wicked-looking blade before Kurogane could recover his stance. He swung Ginryuu reflexively, and the grating impact of metal on metal rattled his teeth. Thunder growled, and the light began to fail as dark clouds gathered rapidly overhead; he was Kurogane Stormcaller, and even on Jotunheim the skies obeyed his will.

He got his feet back under him quickly, and his next parry was faster and more confident. He batted the blade wide with a heavy blow of the hammer, forcing the giant to flail to regain his balance; in that moment Kurogane spared a quick look about him and was able to see to his friends.

The skirmishes were not going well; Kendappa was holding her own against her giant, but seemed unable to press an advantage. Eagle was down, and the second giant pressed the attack on him ferociously despite all Geo and Lantis' best efforts to draw his attention. Of Fai and the fourth giant, there was no sign, and that was ominous.

Kurogane raised Ginryuu to the sky, and called down lightning with a sky-shattering  _crack._  The impact struck with stunning force, charged air battering at them like the force of a hammer itself. The giants staggered and stumbled, clutching at their heads; Kurogane's own companions were more used to it, and took instant advantage of their foes' momentary stun to regroup and regain their footing. The tongue of brilliant energy snapped down from the sky to touch Ginryuu, and power hummed and sang through his arm as the silver dragon winding down the handle began to glow.

Kurogane bellowed a laugh, and many foes would have quailed and turned tail at the sight and sound of him alone.

The stone giant was made of sterner stuff, though, and pressed forward stubbornly. Kurogane matched his blows with equal speed and force - now that his weapon was infused with the power of the storm, he could match even a giant's strength. He spied an opening in the giant's defenses and drove forward, smashing the head of his hammer into the giant's grey-mottled torso with a deafening  _crunch._

The giant staggered backwards, dazed; a long crack had appeared lengthwise across his chest, like a boulder split by a tree root. Such a mighty blow would have felled most enemies, but Kurogane was just getting started.

His opponent had stumbled a step backwards from the impact of the blow; now Kurogane leapt backwards, increasing the distance between them. He readied the wild magic in his arm, took careful aim, then flung his arm out as though to throw his hammer - but the weapon did not leave his hand; instead, the charge of elemental lightning he had gathered into his weapon blasted forwards.  _"Senryuu hikogeki!"_  Kurogane roared out, and the lightning lashed mercilessly to his command.

The explosion blasted the stone giant clear across the battlefield, and Kurogane did not hesitate a moment before charging in its wake. Giants were tough, especially stone giants - and like Aesir, they could quickly shake off almost any wound that didn't kill them outright. Indeed, the giant was still moving, struggling feebly to get up and groping dazedly for his weapon even as he shook his groggy head to clear it.

With the giant knocked onto his back, struggling to regain his feet, for the first time he was actually on a level with Kurogane. For one brief moment, he had a clear shot to the giant's vulnerable head and neck -

Ginryuu swung again in a short, savage arc, and the giant jerked once before ceasing to move. Splatters of blood and shards of bone sprayed across Kurogane's armor, but he paid it no mind; he'd had worse messes before, and likely would again. Breathing hard, he gripped his hammer tightly as he wheeled around, searching the battlefield for more foes.

The Warriors Three and their foe had moved away, partially shielded behind a mound of earth and stand of trees, but he had a clear shot to Kendappa's enemy and he took it, hurtling his hammer across the intervening space to drive into the giant's lower back. He stumbled forward with a pained bellow, giving Kendappa the opening she needed.

-And then Kurogane himself pitched forward, seeing stars, as an unexpected blow caught the back of his head.

It was the fourth giant, the one he'd lost track of in the brawl - the one that Fai had evaded. Kurogane rolled over, dizzy and dazed, and stared upwards at the enraged face and upraised weapon of what could very well be his death. His hand stretched out, futilely seeking Ginryuu, but she was too far away - she would not reach him in time. His companions saw his plight and shouted in urgent consternation, but if his enchanted hammer could not cross the space soon enough, they had no chance.

The giant jerked and bellowed, rearing up and tipping its shoulders back; Kurogane would have thought it was preparing itself for a great blow if not for the note of pain in its howl. The giant continued to thrash about, jerking its shoulders back and forth and reaching up with helpless arms to claw at its own neck, until Kurogane saw the source of its distress: a pair of long, wicked daggers had appeared buried in the meat and tendon of its collar, like pitons for the hands which had wielded them.

The giant spun around, and then Kurogane could see for the first time the long, pale figure still clinging to the giant's back, its feet planted against the giant's kidneys and hands clinging to the blades buried like pitons in its enemy's shoulder. The giant squirmed and flailed and tried to bash its unwanted passenger against a solid surface, but the blond passenger rode his enemy like a horse, effortlessly disrupting every attempt the giant made at being rid of him.

Hot, dark blood spurted from the wounds, rendering the giant's back a slippery and precocious surface to grip. The blond figure crept a little higher, clinging to the giant's ribcage, and finally managed to rearrange its grip; one slender arm snaked around the giant's neck, balancing his weight and yanking the chin upwards with surprising strength. The other hand yanked a dagger free from dark grey flesh, and in one smooth flashing movement the dagger's blade came around to slice a deep gaping rent in the side of the giant's throat.

He fell like a mountain.

Even in death, he slammed and thrashed upon the ground enough to pulverize anyone within reach; for a moment Kurogane feared he had taken his slayer down with him in death. But the blond leapt from his back and seemed to float in the air like a leaf on the wind, drifting to land lightly on his feet on safe ground a few feet away from Kurogane.

Kurogane turned towards his savior, who wiped fastidiously at the great red-black splashes of giant's blood on his clothes. "Tch," the familiar voice said in a tone of disgust. "This'll have to be burned. What  _was_  my brother thinking - that he'd track down and murder some poor defenseless animal and yet somehow miraculously avoid getting blood on himself?"

Kurogane took a step towards him, and he gave up on the effort to clean and turned. The eyes that met Kurogane's were a shimmering gold color, which confirmed what Kurogane had already suspected - that this was no longer Fai at all, but Yuui.

"Liesmith," Kurogane called him by his title, holding his fist over his heart as he gave a shallow bow. As one of Ashura's heirs, he was not technically obliged to bow to Yuui at all; but to fail to give such a courtesy to a comrade-in-arms who had just saved his life would have been the most foul insult. "I wasn't expecting to see you on this battlefield."

"I wasn't expecting you to see me on this battlefield either, Your Royal Storminess," Yuui replied tartly. He stooped to retrieve a handful of grass, cleaning the thick blood and gore off his daggers before giving up and wiping them on his already-ruined clothes. He glanced around, his expression tight. "We're on Jotunheim, I take it?" he said.

Kurogane stayed silent; he never liked repeating the obvious. Trees never grew to this size on any other realm but Jotunheim, so where else could they be?

Yuui grimaced, taking his silence for the affirmation it was. "I would have thought my brother had better sense than to drag us out to this accursed realm, especially given what happened  _last_  time," he said.

When the twins were old enough to embark upon adventures of their own - instead of merely pestering the other Aesir until they agreed to take them - the brothers had gone on a trip to Nidavellir. They had laughed and sang, played and had a grand time, until they came upon animals slain by a snare. Unwisely, they took meat from the snare and ate it around a campfire, gorging themselves until they slept heavily. While they slept, the band of hunting trolls to whom the snares had belonged came upon them and captured them.

For the first time in their lives, the brothers' powers of evasion failed them. No amount of persuasion, sorcery or struggle was enough to win their freedom. At last the leader of the trolls gave them a choice: one brother would be allowed to leave and return to Asgard... and the other would stay, be killed, butchered and roasted over the campfire to replace the meat they had stolen.

Acting on a plan that could only have seemed like a good idea at the time, one of the brothers - and even to this day, none at Asgard knew which one - swallowed the other, taking his twin into himself.

From the day that they returned to Asgard, the two brothers now shared one body. Fai Silvertongue and Yuui Liesmith - they were known collectively now as "the twins," and one always slept while the other moved and spoke. One could only tell who was speaking by looking at the color of their eyes: bright silver for Fai, and molten gold for Yuui.

This all had happened many years before Kurogane was born, of course; he'd never known the brothers when they were young. The twin Jotnar had shared one body for as long as he had known them. Yuui now turned flashing, dangerous golden eyes on Kurogane. "Prince Thundercrack, could I  _kindly_  ask you to convey to my brother just what an insufferably foolish idea this was? Despite what you apparently believe, Jotunheim is  _not_  Asgard's private hunting reserve. As you've just now demonstrated."

Kurogane ground his teeth at the rebuke. "Since I might have died if you hadn't been here to save my life, I can't really say I regret his decision to bring you out here."

"All the more reason he'll listen to you." Yuui grimaced, shaking his head. "Not that it will do any good, I'm sure; he'll be overwhelmed with remorse for approximately five minutes, until the next shiny thing catches his attention, and then off he goes. Do at least  _try_  to impress on him the gravity of the situation - "

"I'm not your errand boy," Kurogane snapped, temper flaring easily in the wake of the ebbing frenzy of battle. "Tell him yourself."

Yuui's breath caught, and it caught up with Kurogane a moment too late just what he'd said. For the tragedy of it all, as the poets liked to sing it (when the twins weren't around to hear) was that although both brothers had survived Nidavellir, from that day onwards they could never see or speak to each other again.

Kurogane winced. "I didn't mean it like that," he said hastily.

:"Of course you didn't," Yuui said, his voice dangerously soft. "After all, it's so  _easy_  for me to sit down with my brother in some quiet corner and have a heart-to-heart  _talk_  with him, isn't it?"

Kurogane sighed. "Forget it," he said. "Look, the sun is starting to go down - we should return to Asgard. Come on, we'll round up the others and return to the Asbru bridge. We have a victory to celebrate, after all - the day wasn't a  _total_  waste, not when we got to dispose of some giants - "

And stopped again, cursing himself fervently in his head. It was all too easy, given his Aesir-like stature, to forget that  _Yuui and Fai were also frost giants._

"Thank you,  _Prince Kurogane,_  for your kind invitation," Yuui said icily. "But I can find my own way back to Asgard, without need of you or anyone else's company."

He spun his daggers in his hands and slid them away into their hidden sheaths with an audible  _snick._  Before Kurogane had wrestled his boot out of his mouth, the blond turned on his heel and walked away, melting into the shadows of the forest with the finality of a closing door.

Kurogane stared after him for a long time, before the voices of Geo and Lantis behind him called him back to the present. The last thing they needed to deal with right now was lingering in an enemy realm, where the commotion of their last battle would inevitably draw trouble to them like a beacon. It was time to collect themselves as best as possible after the skirmish, and go home.

* * *

_Brother,_

_What in Hel's name were you thinking?! I woke up today in the middle of a pitched battle in Jotunheim with Prince Grumphound and the Four Stooges! I thought I made it clear when I refused to tag along with their little hunting expedition that I did NOT want to be involved with any of this. What if I hadn't been fast enough to fling us onto that giant? Kurogane almost got squashed like a bug! I would never forgive /myself/ /you/ the Fates if /anything had happened to him/ the youngest prince got filleted on our watch. On top of that our best riding clothes got covered in giant blood, and I think I nicked my blade on some giant's vertebrae on the outstroke; the edge will NEVER be the same._

_Why is your solution to every little problem to drop everything you're doing and force me to handle it? How many more messes am I going to have to dig us out of before you stop to THINK before you go along with such foolishness? I know you get lonely, I know you want to spend time with your friends but this is NOT the way to do it! I swear, one of these days I'm going to simply roll over and go back to sleep when you call me. You could handle your own messes for a change, and maybe you'd learn /to look out for yourself/ /to deal with a little pain/ a lesson._

v^v

_Dear Brother,_

_I am SO sorry. Please, PLEASE forgive me, I cannot handle the thought that I have injured your trust beyond bearing. I am forlorn without you. I swear, I NEVER meant for anything like this to happen! I would do ANYTHING to make this morning never have existed, I would turn back the cycle of the stars themselves if it would earn your forgiveness! I cannot bear to have you angry with me. I swear on my life, I will never, EVER do anything so thoughtless again!_

_By the way, I couldn't help but notice while we were on the hunt, that Kuro-stealthy was staring! I'm sure he thought he was QUITE discreet, but there was definitely a southward trend to his eyes when he saw the way the leather pants clung..._


	2. Chapter 2

That night, a page came to Kurogane's room bearing a note. The lines in it were simple and unembellished - his presence was requested that evening in one of the library's study halls, alone. It was unsigned, and the handwriting was unfamiliar to Kurogane; by the expedient of questioning the poor page boy, he learned that it had been sent from the suite of rooms belonging to the twins. The note had passed hands since then, so the servant boy could not tell him precisely which of the brothers had written it.

Kurogane couldn't think of any reason for either of the  _hrimthurs_ twins to call him out, at this hour, to a part of the castle that was bound to be deserted. The whole set-up made him wildly suspicious - not of any threat to his life or health, of course, but he wouldn't put it past either of them to make him the butt of some prank. It would be damn shortsighted of him  _not_  to expect just such a thing, in fact.

Still, if this was the lead-up to a practical joke, there was nothing to be gained by ducking the summons. Kurogane knew perfectly well that the twins' dubious sense of humor could not be avoided in such a manner - if anything, doing so was only likely to provoke their spite, and whatever prank came after it would be that much the worse. No, it was best just to go and get it over with.

The library wing was dim and hushed at this hour; not completely deserted, for a few late-night librarians and other devoted researchers still perused the shelves. But the side-chambers which branched off from the library  _were_  deserted, their lights quenched and doors barred. Kurogane avoided the librarians and their inevitable questions and let himself into the designated study-hall quietly; as the King's son, he damn well had the right to go where he pleased in his own castle without needing a bevy of servants or bodyguards to chaperone him.

As soon as he entered, letting the heavy gold-chased wooden doors fall to behind him, he saw faint light ahead of him. It shifted in response to the echoes, casting tenebrous shadows against the wood-strapped stone walls. "Who's there?" Kurogane called out, bracing himself with a hand against Ginryuu's haft.

"Kuro-punctual! You came," a happy voice floated out of the dimness. The light shifted, and a silhouette came into view against it at the far end of the small hallway. The golden glow resolved itself into a small hand-held lantern, and as his visitor raised it to the level of his head the light shone off of bright-blond hair and gleaming silver eyes.  _Fai._

"Yeah, I came," Kurogane said, scoffing at Fai's restatement of the obvious. "Though I'm damned if I know why I bothered. At this hour I ought to be asleep."

Fai laughed softly and raised his free hand, and the light of the lantern surged and then split into a half-dozen tiny golden orbs, which scattered and flew to alight on the lamp-sconces lining the walls. The light caught and grew as each lamp lit, bringing illumination to the room, though still only half that of what it would normally be in the day. "Oh, is Kuro-cranky getting  _old?"_  Fai sang. "I'm  _so_  sorry to have disturbed your rest. How can I  _possibly_  make it up to you?"

Kurogane snorted. "You can start by telling me what we're doing down here," he said. If this was the start of some kind of joke, the punchline was eluding him. He didn't think Fai would have called him down here to play any kind of games of court politics or intrigue; the pale frost giant twins had never shown much interest or inclination for such games. But Kurogane wasn't sure what that left.

"Well, what  _does_  one normally do in a dimly lit, secluded area like this one?" Fai purred, gliding across the floor towards him. "The possibilities, they  _boggle_  the mind. Lovelorn teenagers would sell their own mothers for such a perfect spot to hide away and neck, don't you think, Kuro-teen?"

Kurogane opened his mouth to reply, then left it hanging open as everything clicked into place. Oh.  _Oh._  The late-night summons, the strange venue, Fai's flirty attitude (all right, so that wasn't too different from normal.) He hadn't been called down here for a prank or ann assassination attempt or anything else like that, this was a  _tryst._  And it wasn't that Kurogane hadn't engaged in such things before, but always with women, and never with  _Fai._

Fai moved in with a swiftness he hadn't prepared for - brought slim white hands up to either side of his neck and held him there, pulling him gently but inexorably downwards. Kurogane took a breath - to speak, to push Fai away, to pull him forward - but opening his mouth had been a tactical mistake; in a moment Fai's lips had sealed over his own, and Fai's tongue quested gently between his parted teeth.

Fai's mouth was cool, tasting of apples and with a faint wild bite like snow in the air. His eyes had fluttered closed and Kurogane kept his own open, studying the way the fine gold lashes lay across his high-boned cheeks. Felt the way his breath rose and fell in his narrow chest, the fluttering of his fingers and palms as they danced across the width of Kurogane's shoulders to grip at the top of his arms.

That one soft moment hung like it could go on for hours - or years - and for one aching moment Kurogane allowed it. With Fai's face so peaceful, his eyes so softly closed, Kurogane could almost imagine...

But it was his lapse of self-control that had led them to this pass in the first place, if Fai had noticed enough of his preoccupation and oblique glances to come to this conclusion. So Kurogane sighed - he felt the warmth of his own breath, gusting reflected back from Fai's cheek - and reached up to push the other man away.

Fai's eyes flew open, and quicksilver glittered in their depths for a moment before they narrowed in cunning. A smirk twisted the edges of those pale lips upwards, crinkling his eyes with laughter. "Oh, come now, Kuro-shy," Fai laughed. "Now I know you're inexperienced, but you're surely not  _that_  new to the art of love. Does Teacher Fai need to give you  _all_  the extra-special lessons?"

"No," Kurogane said seriously. He kept his hands on Fai's shoulders, to hold him back so that he could not dart in again. "This won't work."

Fai's eyes widened in comic innocence. "Such pessimism from such a brave, fearless warrior!" he squealed. "I can't imagine why would you  _say_ such a terrible thing! Is it because we're kin - not  _technically,_  of course, as there's no blood between us! - or because you don't know how it's done with two warriors? That's no problem at all, I can assure you; let Mommy take care of everything -"

"Fai," Kurogane said, and fended off a sly hand sneaking towards of the waistband of his trousers. "Look, I don't want to upset you, but this just isn't going to happen?"

Fai paused, and retreated a few inches. "Whyever not?" he said, wariness creeping into his expression and voice.

"Because," Kurogane said, and he had to put force into the next words to keep them from cracking. "I don't love you. I'm sorry if you thought I did, or if I gave you the wrong idea, but - look. I'm in love with Yuui."

" _What?"_  Fai cried out, and he fell back two full paces as he recoiled. Shocked horror washed over his expression, and he staggered as though he had been struck. "What, no! What do you mean? That's impossible!"

Kurogane shrugged, helpless and bereft of words in the face of Fai's exaggerated response. It was too much to hope for that Fai would take it calmly - would anyone really, on being told that your crush loved your sibling instead of you? But to back down, to soften it now, would only draw the pain out further. And so Kurogane repeated in a clear, quiet voice: "I love Yuui. Not you."

Fai began to laugh, a discordant and unsteady sound. "That - that's ridiculous," he said uneasily. "You can't - you can't possibly love him and not me. We have the same body!"

"You may have the same body, but not the same heart," Kurogane corrected him. "I've known you two all my life and I've always known that you're each your own person. You know it perfectly as well, so don't pretend otherwise to me."

"But if you only loved one of us - if you only loved one..." Fai broke off and shook his head, sending wisps of ashen-colored hair flying. "You should love me. You should love me, not him! Why aren't you in love with me?"

Kurogane shrugged again. "Why does the sun rise in the east, and not the west?" he said rhetorically. "You are a true companion, Fai, and I'd stand by you in any ring. I don't make the mistake others do of seeing you for less than you are. But what I feel for you, in my heart, is not love. I don't know why or why not. I just don't."

"But... why  _him?"_  Fai's face twisted, taking on an ugly sneer. "Of all the people in Asgard - of all the people in the  _Nine Realms_  to choose from,  _why him?_  Everyone knows that he's the  _evil_ one, wicked and heartless. No one loves him, no one even  _likes_  him. No one except me."

A growl rumbled in Kurogane's throat as his temper flared to life. He could understand surprise, even heartbreak at being rejected - but this was just vicious, petty and cruel. "That's not true," he snapped out. "Not even close to it. Maybe you've forgotten because you've been away from him for so long -" that was the most generous he could afford to be, to Yuui's brother - "but  _I_ see him every day, so I know. He has a sharp tongue and a brusque manner, it's true - but so is his heart, even if he hides it."

"But he's cruel!" Fai protested. "And bloodthirsty! He likes to fight, he kills for fun -"

"So do I!" Kurogane snarled, and he surged to his feet and turned away, beginning to pace from one side of the low stone room to the other. The restless frustration filled him with the need to move, as though he could physically strike the words from the air somehow. "I am Kurogane Stormcaller, and I wield Ginryuu, the giant's bane. That's no mere fancy title, in case you've forgotten. I love the thrill of battle, the contest of strength and the promise of glory - " he wheeled back to face Fai, his arms sweeping out before him as though describing the arc of his blade. "- But I won't pretend that a part of me doesn't love the taste of hot blood in my mouth or the satisfaction of seeing my enemy fallen before me!"

Fai stood frozen, tense and trapped as though snared on the edge of flight. Kurogane forced himself to take a step back, turn away, tamp down his dangerous aura. "It's not pretty, but it's who I am," he said quietly, "and it's that very same darkness in him that calls to the darkness in me. I love him not  _in spite of_  his 'wickedness,' as you call it, but  _because_ of it."

Fai was breathing heavily, Kurogane noticed - not with lust but exertion, deep gulps of air as though he'd just run a racecourse. The break in the rhythm when his chest hitched, and he swallowed hard, was loud as a blow in the silent chamber. "You had best leave the lying to the experts, Kurogane," he said in a faint voice.

Kurogane stepped forward, getting right up into Fai's space - Fai backed away, but not fast enough to avoid Kurogane catching his hands on his shoulders and leaning into his face.  _"I am,"_  he growled. He didn't need Fai's approval to be in love with his brother - not that he planned to wait on it - but he didn't intend to leave any ambiguity in the situation if he could possibly help it. It would be better for all three of them in the long run - Yuui, Fai, and Kurogane - if everything was laid plainly out in the open. "And you'd best not get in the way."

Fai broke the moment, casting his gaze to the side and shuddering - a full-body movement that somehow shook him loose from Kurogane's grip and placed him a stride away, out of reach. "You're a fool, then, Prince of the Aesir," he murmured, "and I just hope we'll both survive for you to regret this."

He took a deep breath and tipped his chin up, his eyes sliding up in his head even as they slipped closed.

The twins greatly disliked having such unguarded moments witnessed by others, so they usually tried to keep them to their private chambers. But Kurogane had known them for years, and so he'd unwittingly been a witness to this process a number of times; it never ceased to be unnerving.

First came the shuttering, a closed and empty look that fell across the twin's face and body as his eyes closed and his expression went blank. Then, for the briefest of moments, a terrifying emptiness in the presence before him - as though the body before him were no more than a lifeless stone. Then - the same process in reverse. The newly wakened twin would shiver all over, as though shaking off a layer of dust or frost. Now the chin went up, and the lids flew wide...

Over silver eyes.

"Fai?" Kurogane blurted out in confusion. The silver-eyed twin looked over at him, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Why, Kuro-tan," he said, giving a surprised laugh. "Whatever are you doing down here at this time of night?"

Kurogane stared at the blond man, his brain feeling like a blade that had stuck in a cleft of its own cutting - no matter how he strained and pulled, he could not seem to make his thoughts move forward. What was going on here? If this was Fai - if  _this_  was Fai - then who had Kurogane just been talking to?

"Didn't you ask me to meet you down here?" he said, feeling uncommonly stupid for the question.

Fai tilted his head to the side, bemusement playing over his features. "Why, no! Did you need to talk to me for some reason? Or," he said, and his smile turned sly and knowing, "did you want to talk to Yuui? He's not here right now, I'm afraid - "

"No, I - no," Kurogane said, and cleared his throat gruffly. "It wasn't anything important. I'll - just go back to bed."

"Whatever you say, Kuro-somniac," Fai sing-songed, and he turned towards the dimly-glowing lanterns on the wall. He held up his hand, and the lights turned from yellow to white, then flew to his hand. Kurogane stared, and wondered how he had failed to notice the color of those uncanny lights before. Fai started towards the door, the bright cold light haloing the fringes of his hair as he turned away.

"Oh - I almost forgot," Fai said, turning suddenly back to face Kurogane. "Geo wanted me to warn you, if I saw you, if you didn't hear it from him first - apparently Yuui has been going around pretending to be me again. The silly-billy boy!"

"Again?" Kurogane said numbly. "This is something he's done before?"

"Oh, sure." Fai grinned and rolled his eyes. "We used to pretend to be each other all the time, way back before. It's easier now, I guess, when we only have to change the eyes - but that somehow just takes the  _fun_  out of it, don't you think? It's not sporting at all!"

Kurogane was left speechless, but Fai apparently expected no response, for after a moment more he shrugged and turned to go. "Good night, Kuro-turnal!" he sang out from the passageway, before the light disappeared with him.

* * *

_Brother,_

_This evening I spoke with Prince Kurogane in the library. It may surprise you but what should be the topic of discussion, but you!_

_Prince Sparkypants told me that he admires you very much indeed, which should come as no surprise after all the staring! Indeed, I think perhaps everyone in Asgard is aware of the atmosphere that lies thick and heavy between you. You are, dear brother, the last to come to the party!_

_The Prince confided to me that he would not hesitate to take you as his consort and raise you above all others, but for one or two minor little details - that you might consider becoming just a tiny bit more serious, for example, and perhaps work just a little bit more on your combat skills. But those minor considerations aside, is it not a grand thing to have the love of a Prince?_

_Can you not see yourself in the years to come, sitting at the prince's right hand and presiding above the court, basking the reflected gleam of their respect and awe? All would love you, for you would bring joy and laughter to the throne of Asgard, the light to Kurogane's darkness, the day to his night, the clear sunny sky to his storm clouds. It is a balance that was written in the heavens, brother, a complement of order and chaos that brings new life to the world. And let's also not forget the benefits of Prince Musclebound himself._

_Have you not dreamed of reaching out to that grim face, to smooth away the angry lines at his eyes and cover his frowning lips with your own? To bring a light to those crimson eyes, and a laugh to his throat, as so few have ever done before? Have you not wondered if he would taste, as he smells, like the sky split open? Have you not longed to run your fingers over those long, long limbs, and feel the lightning chained within?_

_Surely, surely that would be worth holding on for?_

v^v

_Dear Brother,_

_What are you going on about? Silly - you know I don't like Kuro-tan that way._

_Father's audience will be tomorrow! I'm excited, so many interesting people are coming. Did you hear, the sons of Hreidmar will be in attendance - the brothers of Ótr, that shapeshifter we killed. Remember that time - wasn't it funny? He flopped around like a fish with his brains spilling everywhere!_

_There's also going to be an also an emissary from Muspelheim. I wonder where they'll put him? If they're not careful he'll set fire to the curtains..._

* * *

Valaskjalf, the great golden-roofed hall was packed full today. It was the eve of one of the Allfather's open audiences, where anyone from the Nine Realms could demand audience with the King - either to beg a boon, or else claim an injury and demand recompense. Such sessions were infrequent - the last one had been ten years ago, by Kurogane's reckoning - and so people tended to come from far and wide to make their cases.

Bodies of all shapes and sizes filled the hall, muttering and shuffling for better footing and elbowing each other for room. A contingent of slim and fluttering Ljosalfar in one corner gave a wide berth to a lonely and looming storm giant, who had to bend his head carefully so as not to brush the smoke-darkened ceiling. Adding to the crowd, many supplicants came not alone but were accompanied by supporters to argue their case for them (or in many cases, their enemies, to argue against them.) There were also many who came only to watch, on top of those - like Kurogane - whose duties demanded they be here.

At the far end of the hall from the great doors, the air lightened. Most of the hall was dark, lit only from beneath by torches which sent soot up to blacken the heavy oak beams looming overhead and set the pillars to glow, but here above the throne the rafters became more widely spaced, the roof opening up to admit a hazy, filtered light from above. Directly behind the throne stood the great elm tree, its branches spreading to provide the canopy above; drooping curtains of leaves formed the walls on either side, whispering as the shifted with a wild and strange power that gave them the strength beyond that of any stone-walled castle. A spring bubbled from the foot of the throne, flowing cold and swiftly out of the hall; where, Kurogane knew, it would grow to form the river Hvergelmir that fed all the fertile lands of Asgard, and eventually tumbled over the edge of the world to rain on the realms below.

Ashura All-Father himself sat on the great golden throne from which he could see into any corner of his realm. His grand robes swept to either side of the dais, impeccably neat despite the heat of the hall, and a crown of twisted gold sat lightly upon his head. In this guise he had never looked more like the god of wisdom, scholars and poets which made up his gentler aspect; and his abstracted, benevolent look inspired a perhaps-unwarranted confidence in many of those who came to petition him.

Kurogane respected and honored his father, as did all of Asgard; but Kurogane was also wise enough to fear him, as well. King Ashura did not spend all his time on his throne, after all. He was as often in the fields of battle, riding the winds of howling gales down upon the armies and harrying the soldiers on the field, changing his allegiances from one army to another on a whim and laughing as his horse trampled the slain under his hoofs.. He bore an enchanted spear which never missed its mark, but he was just as likely to dismount and tear into foes with his bare hands, as well.

Ashura ruled over madness and chaos as well as order and strength - whether that was the beautiful turmoil of a poet's soul or the furious bedlam of the battlefield. All of his sons had inherited these traits, to a lesser or greater degree. They lined up today at Ashura's right side; sinister Seishirou, genial Fuuma, reserved Kazuhiko with his maimed right hand, and Kurogane himself. They each had their special realms of influence, but the strain of chaos ran true in each of them - Kurogane's domain was given over storms and thunder, the tumult and furor of the wind and water. He understood better than most how vital a healthy dose of unrest was in any given system - it kept things from getting too settled, too stale, brittle and weak with a lack of challenges. Change was good, for stagnation was death.

Perhaps that was why Ashura invited the frost giant twins to these audiences; Fai currently lounged at Ashura's left hand, leaning with one elbow against the arm of the gold-plated throne and careless of such niceties of chairs. Though he was not Ashura's son by blood, no one (dared to) dispute his place on the dais. Fai's suggestions, while always unorthodox, sometimes provided solutions that never would have occurred to the other Aesir. When the jotun Satsuki had come before Ashura, demanding recompense for the death of her father Thjazi, one of her demands had seemed impossible - that they should make her laugh. Satsuki was well-known throughout the realms for being grim and completely devoid of humor, yet it was Fai who had managed to fulfill the task of making her laugh. (Kurogane still wasn't sure exactly how he'd done it, only that it had involved a length of cord, an octopus, and fifteen minutes in a private room with her.)

Kurogane kept a wary eye on him, not sure quite what he expected. They hadn't spoken again since the night in the library - what was Fai thinking? Planning? Did he know about his brother's little trick?  _Was_  that even Fai at all, or Yuui in disguise? Yuui hated politicking, Kurogane knew - but then again maybe he'd never known either of the brothers as well as he'd thought.

The day was only half over and Kurogane was already inclined to throw the whole lot of them out on their heels and go back to bed; he couldn't blame his father for doing this only every ten years, if that meant less of this tedious clamor. At least the delay tended to weed out casual gawkers; only those with great determination to their causes would wait this long, come this far and fight their way through the crowd to plead their case.

Ashura called for the next petitioner, and a mismatched pair of men stepped up before the dais. One of the men was tall and rangy, his head nearly brushing against the branches overhead. The other was short and stocky - he was actually not much shorter than the other Aesir, but his immense broadness and the contrast with his companion made him seem stumpy and squat. Despite the difference in height, there was a similarity between their features that made Kurogane sure they were related, and something about those features rang a faint warning in his head. He straightened up, frowning at them, as they made their bows.

"You stand before Hlidskjalf, the throne of the gods," Ashura proclaimed, his voice ringing clear and unwavering to the rafters despite how many times today he'd had to recite this line. "What would you have of them?"

"Justice, my lord king," the shorter of the men said, in a creaky voice that rumbled and buzzed in his stocky frame.

"State your name and your cause," Ashura said, settling back slightly and tilting Gungnir to his hand. His expression and voice remained mild, and Kurogane wondered how anyone could be fooled by it.

"I am Fafnir, and this is my brother Regin," the man explained, indicating his companion. "We are the sons of the dwarf-king Hreidmar, master of the mountain fastness. Alas, there should be three of his sons here today; but our brother Ótr is slain."

At the name Ótr, recognition finally clicked, and Kurogane nearly groaned aloud. He knew this family all too well. Hreidmar was one of Asgard's more obstreperous neighbors; he was a poor host and an unruly neighbor, letting his livestock (and his sons) wander heedlessly over the boundaries of his territory. His was not a large kingdom, but a dangerous one, since Hreidmar was a master of black magics and a crafter of fearsome weapons. Kurogane now recognized the axe Fafnir bore at his side from legends; it was Gram, Sigurd's bane. Forged through sorcery, it was said that the axe was so strong that it could cleave an anvil in twain, and so sharp that it could cut a man's soul from his body so that he fell dead without a mark.

Kurogane eyed the pair of them with increased suspicion, his hand creeping towards Ginryuu's hilt - although surely not even Hreidmar's son would be so brash and foolish as to start a quarrel in King Ashura's own hall?

"Six years ago, my brother was traveling in the mountains near our home," Fafnir continued. "He was engaged in that most peaceful of activities, fishing in the river streams, when he was set upon by a band of Aesir, bound, and murdered - without your command, great king, I am most sure."

That was one way to tell the story, Kurogane reflected sourly. He had been part of the band that had been dispatched, six years ago, to see to the murderous giant that was wreaking havoc on the fishermen and farmers of the northern mountains. Their enemy had proven himself a shapeshifter, and so for days confounded their attempts to either capture him or drive him away by taking on one fearsome form after another.

In the end it had been the twins who had finally defeated him; Fai had gone to him bare of sword and shield and persuaded the giant to sit with him by the side of the river, drink mead, and talk. Gradually Fai had persuaded Ótr to take the form of an otter, a river dog, in order to show off his skills at swimming.

The moment he had done so, Fai quickly whipped out a fishing net he had hidden under his clothes, and cast it about the shapeshifted body, dragging him from the river to the shore. There, Yuui had bashed his head open with a riverbank stone, accomplishing in one blow what all of the warriors of Asgard could not.

"My brother was tricked and deceived to his most heinous murder," the dwarf Fafnir was saying. "His murderer called him under a false flag of truce, which he then betrayed. On behalf of our father, we come to demand justice for my brother's death - either a suitable wergild paid, or his murderer's head returned to us."

The problem was, no matter how obnoxious Ótr had been making himself, he was still the son of a king - and the legendary black magics of dwarf-king Hreidmar could make trouble indeed for Ashura. Kurogane shot a quick look across the throne to see what Yuui was making of this - but the frost giant just stood there with a pleasantly blank expression, apparently finding nothing about this audience the slightest bit out of the usual.

"Very well," King Ashura replied. "Let it not be seen in all the Nine Realms that Asgard is unjust, or blind to a father's grief. We will offer suitable repayment for your brother's death."

Heads nodded all around the chamber, and there were a few awed or approving murmurs. The wergild for a death varied in amount depending on the station of the slain; for a peasant or thrall, a few coppers; for a freedman, a gold coin; for a noble or a man of station, the weight of the fallen man's head in gold. For the son of a neighboring king, the ransom would be weighty indeed, and it was no small concession for Ashura to agree to it.

"The barren void in our house, at our table, in my brother's saddle cannot be easily filled," Fafnir said warningly. "To recompense such a tragedy, my father asks no less than my brother's own weight in treasure."

Gasps at his audacity filled the hall, yet Ashura himself did not blink an eye. "Very well," he stated. He stood, and slammed the butt of Gungnir firmly against the dais. "Bring to our scribes the stones that approximate your brother's weight, and we will see the balance equaled in gold -"

"Oh, not gold," Fafnir interrupted.

Now Ashura did hesitate, the merest shiver of an eyelid reflecting the ripple of confusion that ran along the room. "Not gold?" the King repeated, his voice taken slightly aback.

"Of course." Smirking, Fafnir glanced around the room. "That the halls of Asgard drip with gold is well known. The dwarven kings tell legends of the enchanted golden ring Draupnir, which multiplies itself eightfold every fortnight. After so many centuries of this, it is no wonder that gold overflows from Asgard as abundantly as water flows from this spring.

"I have seen as I walked through your kingdom the buildings with their walls sheathed in it, the statues and columns wrought of gold, used in even the common man's tableware. So much gold have you, Princes of Air, that it is worth less even than the commonest brass. You spend it so freely, that the value of all the gold in all the lands is as nothing to it. How could we take as payment a metal so cheap and tarnished?"

The confused mutter among the crowd grew louder, with not a few people wondering if the magician's son was perhaps deranged. Kurogane could only echo the confusion. Gold was gold. Of course it had great worth and value; it was  _gold._  Why would it be worth less just because they had a lot of it?

Fafnir spread his hand over his heart and gave a little bow towards the throne, and the mockery in it was plain to see. "So do not offer me gold, All-Father; my father demands  _treasure._  Grant us the full measure of our brother's death, not in gold, but in  _silver."_  His eyes wandered across the room to light on Fai, and a cruel and cunning smile twisted his lips.

Kurogane's mouth fell open in dismay. Silver was a rare commodity in Asgard; indeed, what need had they of such a lesser, easily tarnished metal when all they needed could be polished of gold instead? Even if they gathered up all the silver from every corner of Asgard, it was unlikely that they could come close to filling Fafnir's ransom request.

And it was certain that he knew it. The All-Father had already agreed to pay Ótr's death-ransom; if he reneged on his debt now, his name would be sullied among all the Realms.

The mutter among the crowd was growing into a roar like the sound of the surf, and Ashura cut it off with a sweep of his arm and the ringing crash of Gungnir against the stone. "Enough!" he called out in a terrible voice. "The house of Ashura pays its debts, dwarf. Give us a month to gather a tribute, and you will have your silver."

The restless tumult settled to a murmur, and Fafnir bowed before the All-Father's throne, a satisfied smile fixed on his face.

But Kurogane's unease was not so easily settled. Even a month might not be enough time to gather all that was required, not even if they were forced to stoop to asking their neighbors for help. With Hreidmar on their flank, trade caravans were slow and difficult, especially bearing such a weight of metal.

Kurogane did not doubt that this delay was intended. Neither Hreidmar nor his sons could have any particular lust for silver; they had mines of it in their own country, if that was what was wanted. He suspected rather that it was a delaying tactic, a way to turn up the pressure on Ashura while concealing his real intention.

For when anyone spoke of  _silver_  in the halls of Asgard - quick and darting, pale and shining, mercury-shifting silver - there was usually only one thing they truly meant:

Fai.


	3. Chapter 3

A week passed in Asgard, and the sons of Hreidmar showed every indication of becoming permanent fixtures.

All of the other supplicants to King Ashura had departed, yet those two remained; they had entrenched themselves in the guest room Ashura had commanded for them, and made themselves unendingly obnoxious to their hosts. Fafnir kept the terrorized servants running at all hours with bizarre or extravagant requests, and enjoyed nothing so much as destroying or despoiling the fine decorations and furniture left within reach.

Still Ashura had not yet been able to gather together the requested weight of silver, and still the two dwarves lingered. On the first Wednesday after their arrival, tensions between them finally broke into open bickering.

"We're wasting our time here," Regin said with aggravation, turning away from a window which overlooked Asgard. "It's been a week already. We should just take the gold and go home."

Fafnir paced back and forth near the doorway, but turned aside for long enough to throw a scoff in his brother's direction. "You are obsessed with the small details and forgetting the big picture," he accused. "What need has our father for more gold?"

"What need has he for silver?" Regin grumbled. "Even  _if_ Ashura manages to gather a tribute, which I don't think he can. We're not accomplishing anything here, we're just wasting their time and ours."

"It's not about the silver either," Fafnir scoffed. "It's about taking the Aesir down a peg. These arrogant dullards have been throwing their weight around for years, lording over everyone else as though they owned the universe and merely deigned for us lesser folks to live in their backyard. Now we have a chance to hold  _their_  feet to the fire for a change, and I intend to make the most of it."

"Taking them down a peg," Regin echoed. "The two of us, against the whole of Asgard. I don't know about you, but I don't like those odds."

Fafnir threw a drinking cup at his brother, which Regin batted aside with a scowl. "Hark at you, gutless wonder," he sneered. "We hold the advantage. They can't do a thing to us and they know it. If we listened to your advice, we'd spend our entire lives at home never stirring from the hall."

Regin sighed. "I'd  _like_  to be home in the hall right now," he said wistfully, "rather than trapped in here with the likes of the All-Father and the Stormcaller - to say nothing of those tricksters, either. I don't like it, brother."

"That's because you're an idiot," Fafnir snapped at him. "Of course you would be obliterated in a moment in a battle of wits. But not all of us come unarmed to the arena of the mind! I can more than handle any foolishly transparent ploys that  _ergi_ coward tries to spring on us."

"I know I'm not as clever as you," Regin said, "but there's no need to be cruel."

"There's no need to be a wet week and sit around here stinking up the room with your moans," Fafnir said, "yet you do it anyway. Get out of my sight for an hour. I need to think."

Regin did not reply to that, only shook his head and departed in the opposite direction. Fafnir reveled in the solitude for a while longer, but he found that the guest room was too dull and quiet when empty; the servants all now avoided this wing like the plague, so there were none of them even to torment. He was just about to leave - perhaps follow his brother down to the hall to soak up some free drinks - when he became aware of a slender gray shadow dogging his footsteps.

He let his pace slow, keeping his shadow in the corner of his eye, although he did not turn to face him. "It's about time," he said with a chuckle. "I wondered when you would show up."

"So you are Hreidmar's son," the voice came from behind him. "My brother told me about you."

Fafnir turned around, giving a gloating smirk. "Well, well," he said. "So the  _hrimthurs_  runt finally decided to come out of the shadows. Not hiding behind your wish-father's... skirts?"

The gray-cloaked figure pushed off from the walls, and slid the hood back over pale hair. A pair of ferocious yellow eyes glared at him from a delicate face set angry and cold. "You would insult King Ashura in his very court?" he said, voice soft and dangerous. "I can't decide whether you're bold, or stupid."

Fafnir laughed. "Have I not reason to be bold?" he said mockingly. "With my father's power, what have I to fear from that mad old man and his pack of weak-blooded mongrels?"

"You are as poor a guest as your father is rumored to be a host," Yuui stated coldly. "Also, you're not subtle, you know. I know what you're trying to do."

Fafnir smiled condescendingly. "Oh? And what am I trying to do?" he said, his voice sweet with false innocence.

"You demanded a ransom that you know Asgard cannot repay," Yuui said. "You seek to force the All-Father's hand to give you Fai's life in exchange."

"Oh, and here I'd heard you were the  _stupid_  one," Fafnir sneered.

"You shouldn't believe everything that you hear," Yuui said coolly. "Appearances can be deceiving."

"I am well within my rights," Fafnir defended himself. "If the King of Asgard cannot pay the ransom for my brother's murder, all the realms will mark his lack of honor. And I will muster an army to tear down the walls of Asgard stone by stone, and put all of its inhabitants to the sword."

"He'll never do it," Yuui snapped. "It doesn't matter who your father is, or how many brigands you can bring to bear. All you will accomplish is making a pest of yourself, and causing the deaths of countless innocents who never sought to be involved -" He cut himself off, then took a measured breath. "I have an alternative for you."

Fafnir snorted. "I can't imagine what you could possibly have to offer me that would sway me from my course, Liesmith," he said.

"You will once you hear it." Yuui's head tilted to the side. "My brother's life and mine have been intertwined since the hour we were born. No other has more right to pledge it than I do. I propose a wager."

"Oh?" Fafnir affected a casual air, trying to hide the way his interest pricked. If he waited King Ashura out, there was always the possibility that he would manage to scrape together enough silver to pay the ransom. "What manner of wager?"

"Let us play a small game of dice," Yuui answered. "A little bit of luck, a little bit of skill. If I win, you will rescind all claims to wergild and leave Ashura's court immediately."

"Hardly tempting," Fafnir scoffed. "And if I win?"

Yuui's eyes darted to the side slightly, and he licked his lips nervously. "Then you can name your prize."

Fafnir paused, and slowly a wide smirk spread across his face. "The son of Ashura is generous indeed," he purred. "Very well. I accept your wager."

Yuui's hands moved towards a pouch at his belt, and Fafnir flung up a warding hand. "On one condition - how can I trust anything that has been in your hands, Liesmith? We will use  _my_  dice to play this game."

Yuui's face became shuttered, thoughts racing. In the end, his head dipped slightly forward. "Very well," he said. "Do you carry them with you?"

"In my chambers," Fafnir said, and turned to gesture Yuui ahead of him with an extravagant, mocking bow. "I'm sure you know the way, oh great prince."

Yuui shot Fafnir a look of dislike, then set off ahead of him.

Once back in the guest chambers, Fafnir took out an old leather package; inside it, a pair of weathered dice rattled inside a hollow bone cup. "I see no need to drag this out," he said. "We shall play  _meia,_  the two-man liar's dice."

Yuui's eyebrows went up, as if impressed by his audacity. "You would seek such a challenge against the Liesmith?" he scoffed.

Fafnir grinned as he swept his arm across the table, sending crockery and goods smashing to the floor below with a clatter. "Shall we begin?" he said.

Yuui sat across the table from him, his muscles tense as his eyes fixated on the dice. Liar's dice was a game where the opponents took turns rolling the dice in the cup, then clapping them hidden on the table. The roller could peek at his dice and call a score, which the opponent could either accept, or call  _liar._  If a liar was successfully caught in this manner, the game would start over again. Then the cup and the dice changed hands. The dice would pass back and forth in this manner, and the score would have to become higher with every turn - once the upper limit was reached, the game was over.

Yuui made a gesture for Fafnir to begin. "Shall we?" he said.

Fafnir rolled the dice in his hand, savoring the feel of it. He was an accomplished hand at  _meia,_  and a part of him savored the challenge of playing against such a challenging opponent as Yuui Liesmith. Only a part, of course. The rest of him had absolutely no intention of losing. He swirled the cup dramatically, and clapped it on the table with the sound of thunder. "Three and two," he announced, after a glance at the table.

Yuui did not challenge him, which was to be expected; there was no gain to do so this early, when the score was so low. Only later on, when the score mounted ever higher and the pressure increased - both to lie, and to call out a liar - would it truly become a test of will. The  _hrimthurs_  only held out his hand for the cup. The dice rattled. "Five and four," he said. "Why is it that you are so determined to kill my brother?"

"Six and three," Fafnir announced on his next turn, watching Yuui closely. "Because he killed mine, of course."

"As I recall, it was not his hand that struck the final blow," Yuui pointed out. "I suppose I am simply too charming and handsome to kill. One and one."

"Liar," Fafnir called out sharply, and Yuui pulled back the cup to reveal and four and a one - among the lowest possible scores. Yuui shrugged sheepishly; he was down by one point, but the game was only beginning; now the score would reset. "Don't flatter yourself. I would gladly take your head too, if I could; but it is the Silvertongue I truly loathe. Four and three."

"Why?" Yuui asked. "Six and five."

"Because he used trickery to bring my brother low," Fafnir snarled hatefully, slamming the cup back on the table with nearly enough force to crack it. "Neither you nor any of those Aesir pups would have had a chance against him, in sorcery and combat. It took a veil of the foulest lies and the betrayal of a sacred flag of truce to get past his guard. I swore on my father's name that the coward would pay for his deceit with his life!"

After a moment, he remembered to glance at his score, and his eyes gleamed as he did so. "Five and five," he said. Doubles were the highest scoring combination in the game, the lower the better; Yuui would be hard-pressed to match it.

Yuui took the dice back without visible expression. "Your sense of vengeance is strangely misguided," he said in a soft voice. "Two and two."

Fafnir studied him narrowly, but could detect no lie in his manner. He took the dice back without comment. "Ah, but that's the beauty of it, don't you see," he told him, and clapped the cup on the table. "The other half of my vengeance will be watching the hope die in your eyes, when I take your brother's head before you and you can do nothing."

They locked eyes for a long moment, a silent battle of wills, which Fafnir broke at last when he glanced down at the dice in his hand. A slow, gloating smirk passed over his face as he did so. " _Meia,"_ he proclaimed.

Fafnir watched with great enjoyment as Yuui's face went stark white, a few faint stray freckles standing out like beacons against his bloodless skin.  _Meia_  was the score of two and one, the highest in the game; it was a score that could not be beaten. If Fafnir was telling the truth and his cup hid meia, then the game was over - and Fafnir would have won.

He swallowed, and looked up into his enemy's face, desperation and panic writ clear in his features. "Will you not be persuaded to take the All-Father's wergild, instead?" he pleaded.

"Nay," Fafnir drawled, savoring the look of hopelessness on Yuui's face as he did. "I renounce all claim to the King of Asgard's riches, for whatever musty pile of rot they're worth. I will have my promised wager, or I will have your lying tongue!"

Yuui's mouth opened, then shut again without a sound as his head dropped and his shoulders hunched. "Liar," he whispered.

Slowly, dramatically, savoring every second of his victory, Fafnir drew back the horn cup. The dice stared up at them balefully, just as Fafnir had set them down: a one and a two.

Yuui stared down at the table, disbelievingly. Fafnir rose to tower over him. "No more games, Liesmith," he proclaimed. "I claim my prize. I claim my right to the head, the neck, and the blood of Fai Silvertongue, to be mine over any other treasure of the realm!"

Yuui's head came up, and a bright silly smile settled over his features - shining reflected in his eyes. His  _silver_  eyes. "Well, I guess it's yours, then!" he chirped. "Of course, you'll need to  _go and get it."_

"What?" Fafnir stared in confusion, hand arrested in mid-motion as it groped for the hilt of his axe.

Yuui - no, this was  _not_  Yuui, it was the Silvertongue himself - laughed merrily. "Well, the  _last_  time I saw it, it was in the possession of some trolls of Nidvallir," he said cheekily. "I'm sure if you ask  _very_  nicely, they'd hand it over. But until then - well, I guess your business in Asgard is finished! Since you renounced your ransom and all."

"What lunacy are you spouting?" Fafnir demanded.

Fai danced to a stop, his hands clasped beneath his chin and his eyes glowing. "Why, Fafnir, I thought you knew this story," he purred. "Certainly  _everyone else_  knew it. How my brother and I were caught by wicked trolls in the Downward Fields years ago, and my body then torn to shreds. By my brother's great art, my spirit was preserved - but I'm afraid my head, neck, and blood are no longer on hand to give to you. Sorry, Fafnir, but it seems that your prince is in another castle."

" _What?_ " Fafnir screeched. He lunged over the table, hands twisting into claws as his hated enemy appeared before him - only to swing at air, as Fai danced laughing out of reach.

"Careful, there!" Fai admonished, as he spun deftly away. "You were  _very_  specific, you know. The head of Yuui Liesmith was _not_  part of the wager, so you have no right to it. Really, son of Hreidmar?  _Weighted dice?_  Was that  _really_  the greatest heights your ingenuity could muster? You are  _very_  like your brother, you know - you both think you're  _much_  smarter than you really are." He tapped his finger thoughtfully against his chin. "Well,  _were,_  in his case."

"You  _tricked_  me!" Fafnir roared.

Fai looked at him like he was an idiot. "Well,  _yes,"_  he said. "Really, I don't know what you were hoping for, getting into a wager with a  _trickster._ What is that saying they have on Midgard - 'Fool you once, shame on me, fool you twice, shame on you?' "

Fafnir lunged towards his enemy, only to have Fai leap back out of reach after all. The blond man darted towards the door and Fafnir, too enraged for rational thought, gave chase.

The golden halls of Asgard blurred in the blood-reddened edges of his vision as Fafnir pursued his quarry through one corridor after another. He paid no mind to where he was going as he saw the edge of Fai's blue cape slip through a swiftly closing door ahead of them and dove after him, slamming the doors open with a booming  _thud_  that seemed hardly louder than the pounding of his heart. There stood Fai, posed with his hands clasped artfully before him.

 _"Got_  you, bitch-wolf's pup!" Fafnir roared, and drove forward with a punch that would drive straight through his enemy's skull -

Only to stumble forward, arms flailing wildly off-balance as his fist met nothing but air. He passed harmlessly through the illusion and staggered to a halt on the other side of it. His head whipped from side to side, searching for his enemy, and he froze.

He was in the great throne room of Asgard. Fai stood a little way away, by the edge of the dais. And arrayed around him was every one of Ashura Allfather's fiercest warriors.

* * *

When the enraged Fafnir aimed what was obviously a killing blow at the illusory Fai, Kurogane started forward with his hand on Ginryuu's haft, ready to chastise him for his audacity in striking a prince of Asgard. But Fuuma's hand on his arm held him back, his brother giving a flick of his eyes and a small nod over to their father. Who did not look nearly as surprised by this as he ought to.

"Violence against one of your hosts, Fafnir?" Ashura said in a mild tone. Standing by his left hand, Fai had doubled over in silent laughter. "A breach of manners I would not have expected from the son of Hreidmar."

"King Ashura - I - " Fafnir stammered, groping around for some excuse. "That - I was provoked. That cowardly cur -"

"Watch your tongue, you stinking toadstool," Kurogane growled, unable to help himself; Ashura's eyes flicked in his direction, but he did not chastise him for the rudeness towards a guest. No, their dwarven guests had not made themselves popular in their stay.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty," Fai spoke up with a gasp, standing straight and dashing tears of mirth from his eyes. "Let us be charitable. There is no need for all this stern disapproval. Our honored guest was merely incensed momentarily by a poor roll of the dice - I am sure that when his wits return to him, he will be properly remorseful."

"Is this true, Fafnir Hreidmarsson?" Ashura asked deliberately.

Fafnir stood, clenching his fists and breathing heavily, but he knew as well as Ashura did the consequences of breaking guest-troth. "Of course, King Ashura," he muttered. "Whatever you say."

"In fact," Fai said brightly, "we have much reason to celebrate our guest! In his  _unfathomable_  generosity, Fafnir has agreed to forfeit the blood-debt owed to he and his family by the crown of Asgard. Isn't that nice of him?"

Ashura's eyebrows went up. "Uncommonly charitable," he agreed blandly.

"Your Majesty, that is a filthy lie," Fafnir sputtered. "That frost giant is a known liar - he tricked me into saying - I never renounced our wergild! Not for one second."

"You seem to be somewhat confused, friend," Fuuma advised him courteously. "Did he trick you into saying it, or did you not say it at all? It can only be one."

"You have no witnesses to say that I did!" Fafnir snarled. "I'll not be led in a dance by any sickly runted giant's kin, nor bullied by you lot of Aesir -"

Ashura stood, and Fafnir fell silent and shrank before him. A dark shadow seemed to grow about him like a sable cloak, cast by the trees above him and reflected by the water below. Only the twisted crown at his brow shone with its own eerie light. "From the high seat at Hlidskjalf I can see many things of this realm," he informed the cowering dwarf coldly. "Not a quarter of an hour passed, I clearly heard it fall from your lips that you renounced all claims upon the riches of Asgard. Have a care whom you call a liar in my hall!

"Your business with us is concluded; you willingly forfeited your payment," Ashura concluded, and the shadow withdrew slightly as he took his seat once more. "And you have also worn out your welcome. Take your brother and leave this hall by nightfall, Hreidmar's son, or else I may owe yet another bounty to your father."

Shocked pale, looking almost shrunken in his skin, Hreidmar stumbled from the hall, escorted by two of Ashura's guards to make sure that he actually went to his quarters and nowhere else. Kurogane eyed his departing form with some disappointment; he would have liked a chance to let off some steam on the whoreson's skin.

The Aesir relaxed as their unwanted guest cleared out, and then a murmur of pleased approval started up as all heads turned to Fai. "Well done, Silvertongue," Kendappa said approvingly, and considering her usual opinion of Fai's tricks, that was praise indeed. "How did you manage it?"

Fai grinned and winked, drinking up the attention like a sponge. "A wager," he said. "After all, the fastest way to convince a man to give up a prize is to convince him that he's about to get a better one."

"So you gambled with him and won?" Fuuma wanted to know.

Fai laughed aloud. "No. I lost!" he said merrily. "The wager itself was irrelevant. But he was so fixated upon winning that he failed to see…" Fai's words slurred, and he blinked rapidly and shook his head. "Failed to see what was…"

In the middle of a sentence Fai suddenly stuttered to a stop, his hand arrested mid-motion. His face blanked of all expression, and in his open eyes Kurogane saw the bright quicksilver color dim, shred, and then dissolve all at once like a pane of frost.

"Fai?" someone asked him worriedly. The blond looked blankly towards the sound, then shuddered- and it was the shudder that Kurogane recognized.

Fai was gone. Yuui stood before them now - but in all the long years Kurogane had known the twins, they had never,  _ever_ allowed their transformation to be witnessed in front of so many people.

Something was wrong.

Yuui stood in the middle of the ring of warriors, stunned and bereft, and something was so  _wrong._

"No…" Yuui breathed, and his expression twisted with grief and horror. Kurogane had known Yuui all his life, and he had never seen such a look of  _devastation_  on him. "He can't. He  _promised."_

His golden eyes filmed over with a silver sheen, and for a moment Kurogane thought wildly that the two brothers were fighting for possession of their shared body, that they would tear each other apart in this unnatural struggle for dominance.

And then the tears began to spill.

"Yuui?" Kurogane started forward, meaning to take hold of him - whether to offer support for his evident grief, or to shake some honesty out of him, he did not know. Either way he never got the chance; the moment he began to move Yuui flinched away from him and fled for the doorway.

"Yuui!" Kurogane yelled, and this time he did give chase. But Yuui was as fleet of foot as Fai, and he had a head start; he reached the doors of his chambers and slammed them shut almost in Kurogane's face.

Kurogane slammed his fist against the door, frustrated. He wanted to take Ginryuu and break down the door, drag Yuui out and demand  _answers_  - but even Kurogane was not that cruel.

"Is he all right?" Kendappa's voice came from behind him, and Kurogane straightened and slowly turned to face his friend.

"Apparently not," Kurogane said.

Kendappa's dark eyes were sharp. "Do you have any idea what in Hel that was about?"

"No," Kurogane growled. He looked back at the door. "But whatever it is, it's serious."

She nodded, a worried  _hmm_  in her throat. "This has been going on for a while, hasn't it," she said softly, following his gaze to the stubbornly closed door. "Ever since we got back from that trip from Jotunheim."

Kurogane shook his head. "I think it's been going on for much longer than that."

* * *

_Do not do this. Do not leave me. After all we have been through, after all the struggles that have brought us here - you don't want to let those savage dogs in Nidavallir_ _**win,** _ _do you? /This is so like you! Something gets the tiniest bit hard, and you just give up and run away! And leave me to pick up the pieces as always, th**## &e#*##*&#lp#&&##a*###/_

_Tell me what I can do to fix this. Tell me what you want and it will be yours. The sun, the moon, the stars, the hand of /Ku/ Freya - anything. Just tell me what to do and I will do it. Just don't fade any longer, don't go away._

_I miss you._

_I love you._

_I need you._

_please, please do not leave me here alone_

v^v

_Dearest brother, my beloved brother, my fondest Yuui,_

_I have never loved anyone more truly than I love you, my brother, but that does not change this. Can not change this. You cannot stop autumn from turning into winter, nor day from turning into night. I am tired. Each waking hour presses on me like a greater weight, and I spent more and more time each day in slumber (no matter how much you might wear my guise to pretend otherwise to the court, you brat.)_

_You would bring me anything, but there is nothing in this world that I desire more than_ **rest** _._

_You would do anything for me except the one thing I most wish from you: to let me go._

_I tire of haunting your halls like a guest that has long overstayed his welcome, every day draining you of your life and your time. I do not regret what we did that day on Nidavellir, and I am glad of the years we had since then, but my years are done._

_(Besides, you will not be alone. You will have your lovely stormy puppy, if only you get over yourself for long enough to ask.)_

_Be well, my brother._

_Goodbye._

_Fai_

* * *

Duty eventually called Kurogane away, but worry kept bringing him back to the hallway outside Fai and Yuui's door. His sense of unease grew throughout the afternoon, and his foreboding was echoed by the gradually thickening clouds, the darkening sky.

As Kurogane circled back to check on the twins' room one more time, he heard a distant crash echoing through the corridors and quickened his pace. The door that had stood so stolidly against him was open, swinging into the corridor, but Yuui was already gone.

Kurogane hesitated for a moment, hearing the distant echoes of footsteps vanishing in the distance. If it were Yuui, he'd most likely gone to the library for comfort; if it were Fai, out to the gardens he so loved. He knew he ought to follow, but some strange instinct drew him through the open door, instead.

The twins' chambers were a wreck, furniture upended and bedding flung haphazardly onto the floor. The bed looked like it had been stabbed with a blade, wisps of hay and feathers drifting out from the punctured bedding… no, that fragment of whiteness there wasn't a feather - it was a scrap of paper.

Kurogane gathered it up, then glanced around to find more shredded scraps and half-pages floating around the room. A leather-bound book fluttered open and half-destroyed on the writing desk, most of its pages ripped out and flung about in a rage. He picked up a few nearby shreds of paper and read them.

… _almost got squashed like a bug! I would never forgive the Fates if the youngest prince got filleted on our watch…_

_…perhaps work just a little bit more on your combat skills. But those minor considerations aside…_

The fragments made no sense, but Kurogane recognized the handwriting - it was the same as on the note that had summoned him to the library endless days ago. Yuui's handwriting?

Kurogane picked up another piece of note, this one written in a neater hand, the letters tightly grouped and slanting.

_…excited, so many interesting people are coming. Did you hear, the sons of Hreidmar will be in attendance…_

_... _brother, my beloved brother, my fondest Yuui...__

It could only be Fai's. Understanding dawned on Kurogane - this volume had been a strange sort of diary, a collection of letters that the brothers would write and leave for each other to read. But why would the twins - whichever one of them it was - destroy what was so obviously a valuable and beloved possession?

Most of the pages were nearly whole, but it seemed as though the last few pages in the book had been torn apart with great fury. Kurogane hunted through the chamber for the stray scraps of paper, and with a patience he never would have guessed he had, pieced it together.

Read the last letter, from Fai to his brother.

And then the door slammed behind him in turn as he strode out after Yuui, the ripped pages once again scattering in his wake.

* * *

He found Yuui in the gardens after all; with the threatening rain, most of the Aesir had retired inside, and the lush green space was unusually empty. As he watched, Yuui staggered a few short steps, from a garden bench to the trunk of a large curling ash tree, and then collapsed at its base. He huddled into himself, knees drawn up to his chest and fingers clutching at bright hair, rocking back and forth as though to some unheard lullaby.

Kurogane started forward, then hesitated. He'd come after Yuui after reading Fai's farewell note because he was afraid of what the twins might do to themselves - either of them. But what could he do to help? He was no mage, only a warrior; and while he had brothers aplenty, he couldn't fathom being so tightly attached to any of them that their departure should wound him so. Fai and Yuui had always been thus, Kurogane had heard, even before their disastrous trip to Nidavellir - two trees growing twined around each other, two lives in the shape of one.

But now one of them was dying, and what would become of the other?

"Yuui?" he called hesitantly. "Are you all right?"

There was no response, and he moved closer. Yuui's white-knuckled hands gripped sections of his pale hair, threatening to tear it from his head; his face was lined and hollowed, and his eyes dry. It would have almost been more reassuring if he had been weeping.

"He promised," Yuui gasped, not focusing on or even looking up at Kurogane. "He  _promised_  he wouldn't leave me alone… I won't let…" He bit his lip white and bloodless, and hunched over even further into himself; a pale film of silver washed over his eyes, then away.

Kurogane hesitated, alarmed and disturbed. This was magic; this was also a man tearing himself apart from the inside. Should -

A dark figure reared suddenly up from nowhere in the corner of Kurogane's vision. He tensed and began to turn, but before he could move a heavy weight slammed into the side of his head. He reeled, stunned, and went to one knee in the garden dirt beside Yuui. It seemed like he was moving through molasses as he turned to face his attacker. His hand groped uselessly for Ginryuu's handle. He had not brought her into the gardens with him; he called to her now, but she was still too far away…

It was Fafnir, huge and dark and looming against the cloud-scudded sky behind him. The shine of metal in his hand resolved itself to a large and wicked-looking axe, its edge already crusted with gore.  _The guards,_  Kurogane remembered with dread.

"You - murderer," he spat, even as he struggled to regain his bearings after the blow. "You would the bonds of hospitality, you would  _dare_  to raise your hands against the princes of Aesir?"

"I  _will_  have the head of my brother's killer," Fafnir hissed, his eyes red and face wild with madness. "And the deceiver along with him, too. And you - you cannot stop me, and I will throw your head along with his into the pits for the dogs to feast on!"

He raised his axe in both hands and swung it, and the wicked edge hummed and roared as it sliced through the air towards his and Fai's necks. Kurogane lashed out and his booted foot caught Fafnir on the knee - enough to jolt him and turn his blade astray. It whistled harmlessly over Yuui's head, coming close enough to graze off locks of his hair.

Or -  _not_  harmlessly, it seemed; Yuui went suddenly rigid, his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed. Even as he did so, the tree behind them groaned and toppled, a diagonal slice running through the entire trunk where the blade had passed through it. Kurogane remember with a sudden cold terror that this was the accursed blade Gram, forged with Hreidmar's black sorceries; it was said to be  _so sharp it could cut a man's soul from its body without leaving a mark._ Kurogane had always put that down to legend and rumor, but the way all color left Yuui's face and he fell upon the ground -

Another noise cut through the fray, and Kurogane's heart leapt at the familiar sound - he held out his hand and Ginryuu came to it, fitting joyfully to his hand and humming at the prospect of a fight. "Enough of your trespass," he snarled coldly to Fafnir, and raised the hammer - Giant's bane, basher of trolls, undefeated in combat - into the air. " _Die."_

The roar of thunder rolled out across the garden, punctuated by the clash of metal on metal. The ensorcelled blade could cut through an anvil with ease, but could not cut through the steel of Ginryuu. Fafnir was maddened with battle, and his rage drove him, but he still could not match Kurogane's strength.

Kurogane raised Ginryuu to the sky and called the lightning; it struck with a mighty  _crack_  and imbued the hammer with its primal power. Fafnir stumbled back, face twisting with rage and the tiniest sliver of fear. Kurogane stepped grimly forward; he did not bother to ask for surrender. For breaking the guest-bond and committing murder among his hosts, the punishment was only death; it mattered little whether King Ashura pronounced the sentence, or Kurogane carried it out.

Fafnir stumbled back, his breathing heavy and his face purple with rage. "I hear," he wheezed, "that you enjoy the challenge of fighting wyrms, Prince Kurogane. I would hate… to  _deprive_  you of such a challenge…"

Kurogane started forward, but even as he moved it was too late - Fafnir's form twisted and writhed, his back arching as his voice escaped him in a choked hiss. The air reeked with the charnel smell of burning flesh and the bitter tang of witchcraft, and then -

The dark form burst upwards, uncurling and unfurling as it did so; scaly black loops filled the garden and overflowed, crushing beds of flowers and ripping trees from their moorings as it did so. Kurogane's eyes widened as the dragon reared up above him, swept-back horns surrounding its long, serpentine face and a mouth full of wicked, dagger-sharp teeth each as long as his hand. The only thing about that face that had not changed were Fafnir's eyes, burning coals of malice and spite.

" _Hikogeki!"_  Kurogane cried out, and launched the lightning. But the beast's armor-plated chest defeated him; the powerful blow was absorbed without visible effect into the overlapping scale plates and powerful bulking muscles of his chest. The dragon's wings snapped open, rising higher than the houses on either side, and its deadly jaws spread open in a bellowing laugh.

Fire bloomed from that open maw; faster than thinking Kurogane brought Ginruu around in a whirling arc that kicked up a fierce and deadly gale in its wake. The fire split around him, streaming harmlessly to one side and flickering out - but the deadly breath was broader than Kurogane could counter, and flames leapt to live among the wood and brush of the gardens.

Fafnir aimed another stream of infernal breath, this time not at Kurogane, but at Yuui. Kurogane dove forward and flung his arm around Yuui's shoulders, dragging him out of the searing path of the flame which cut a broad black swath behind it. The dragon bellowed in triumph and leapt for the sky, wings clapping mightily as he ascended to a height from which he could sear all below.

Kurogane cursed Fafnir fervently in his mind, even as he thrust his hammer skywards and willed all the power along it that he could. There was no way the others could have missed the tumult in the garden; they would be here soon, but at this rate Fafnir would burn down all of Asgard before they could defeat him. It was hard enough to fight a dragon in the open, let alone in this cramped and vulnerable garden. Let alone while trying to protect Fai.

He had always had command over the storm, but in the heat of battle he usually only called the lightning. He called rain now, a fierce and cold downpour to battle the heat of Fafnir's flames and hide them in a veil of concealing fog. The rain slammed down in a grey sheet, and the fires guttered, but did not go out; brown smoke and steam rose up in great hissing clouds.

Kurogane carefully deposited Fai's limp unmoving body in a small hollow, and moved rapidly away as he tracked the dragon's movements by the slow and heavy flap of his wings. Fafnir could not dare to fly too high, while Kurogane commanded the air - or else Kurogane could seize him in a squall that would dash him against the unforgiving mountainside like a fish against a rock. But neither could Kurogane kill him; his armored chestplates shrugged off Kurogane's lightning blows like they were nothing…

A sudden thought seized him, and Kurogane strode to an open patch of ground, burned to char by Fafnir's breath and still sizzling under the pouring rain. He summoned a gust of wind that cleared the smoke, enough to reveal him. "Fafnir!" he called out, brandishing his hammer to the sky. "I am here! Come and strike me, if you are no coward!"

Through the thinning rain and smoke he could see the dragon's bulk turn in the air, see the long serpentine neck gliding around as the dragon banked and came for him. Those black jaws opened in a murderous grin, the fire hissing in his throat…

Kurogane threw Ginryuu - and Fafnir swerved to avoid it, a rumble of laughter in his broad chest as the hammer shot harmlessly over his shoulder. But that was exactly where Kurogane had aimed it, and in the same instant that he fired the deadly missile away from him, he also  _called_  it to him.  _"Tenma-ku ryuusen!"_

The hammer reversed direction in the air, avoiding the heavy plated armor of Fafnir's front, and struck him in the back with all of heaven's fury. The dragon bellowed in surprise and agony as the force and weight of it drove him relentlessly down, limbs and wings and tail flailing and tearing through vegetation as they went.

Ginryuu was so heavy that naught but Kurogane could lift it; Fafnir could never gain the air with such a weight on his back. But neither could Kurogane reclaim the hammer to strike again. Instead, he rolled to the side and seized the handle of Gram, the cursed axe, where Fafnir had let it fall after his dark transformation. The curved edge shone eerily in the stormlight, red-tinged and hungry for more blood.

Kurogane could oblige.

He leapt to avoid the slashing wings, landing on the broad back just above the charred and smoking hole where his blast had hit. Fafnir shrieked and flailed, all his deadly talons and fire breath useless to him when his enemy had gained his back. Kurogane took a breath, raising the axe in his hands -

And cleaved Fafnir's head from his massive scaled neck, as easily as lopping the bloom from a plant.

* * *

A little later, as the rain abated and the last of the fires died down, Kurogane found Yuui in the wreck of the garden. Much to his relief, the blond man was sitting up and moving, his eyes open - his gold eyes, Kurogane saw with a selfish relief.

He was kneeling over a plant that hadn't been there an hour ago, his hands cupped under its fragile leaves. Kurogane frowned as he looked the little sapling over; it looked like an elm tree, like those that grew behind Ashura's throne, but there was a shimmer to its leaves that could not be explained by the sheen of the recent rain.

The silver light of the tree lit Yuui's face from below, the storm of anguish from earlier now calmed into a grieved acceptance.

There was probably something soothing Kurogane could have said, something that would have eased Yuui's grief and brought him comfort; but he was Kurogane Stormcaller, not particularly skilled with words, and so what actually emerged was, "Is your brother a  _tree_  now?"

Yuui glanced up at him, and Kurogane frankly would not have been surprised to see a storm of resentment in his face; but instead he was calm. "His spirit was severed from me," he said, his voice strained and cracked from the soul-deep scream that had been lost under the cover of the storm. "The binding was undone, although I could never have loosed it myself. The spirit of the great elm that was slain wished to be reborn, and I… this was all I could do."

Kurogane walked over and sat down next to him, letting Ginryuu dangle limply from his hand. He was exhausted, and he couldn't help but wonder how long it would take to remove all the chunks of incinerated dragon from their garden. Hopefully not as long as it would take the elm tree to grow again. He cleared his throat.

"So is he ever going to come back?" Kurogane prompted him gruffly. "Your brother, I mean."

"I didn't think you meant Fafnir," Yuui scorned, then relented. "…I don't know. Maybe. The life-force of the tree will sustain him - he said he was tired, you know, before the end. My body wasn't good enough to house the both of us, not for so long. Maybe - maybe he'll be able to rest here, gather his strength…"

"I know," Kurogane admitted. "I read his letters. His letter to you. And yours to him."

He half-expected Yuui to tear into him for that, but the blond man only blinked, tears pooling slowly in his golden eyes. He lowered his head to gaze at the shining silver tree, and said nothing.

Kurogane shifted around, shuffling closer while trying to make it look casually. Carefully, as if approaching a wounded beast, he edged close enough to Yuui until he could brush their shoulders together. "You're not alone, you know," he said quietly. "He was not the only one who loves you."

At last Kurogane saw it, what he'd been looking for - the watery smile through the tears, like the sun breaking through tattered clouds. It wasn't strong or steady, but it was real. "Thank you," he whispered. He leaned against Kurogane's side, let his forehead thump down on Kurogane's shoulder. "Prince Grumphound."

Kurogane chuckled - not only to appease Yuui - and raised his left arm to drape over Yuui's shoulders. There they sat, in the ravaged and ruined garden, while all about them the white plumes of smoke swirled upwards into the limitless sky.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those of you who are familiar with some Norse myths may recognize a few of their common themes in here, though rather put through the blender. But the central one of this story was the death of Ótr and his wergild.
> 
> Ótr was a shapeshifting dwarf who was hanging out in a mountain stream one day in the form of an otter, as one does, when a party of passing Aesir consisting of Odin, Loki and Thor stopped for lunch. Odin told Thor to fetch wood and Loki to hunt some food; Loki happened upon the disguised Ótr and killed him, skinned him and had him with a nice chianti.
> 
> That evening, as the Aesir were looking for a place to stay that night, they happened upon the fastness of Hreidmar, dwarven king who was also the master of the black arts. The Aesir called upon them for hospitality, and offered to share the food they had hunted that day, showing the skin of the otter they had slain as proof. Whoops!
> 
> Ótr's father and his brothers - Fafnir and Regin - demanded wergild for Ótr's death. The ransom was to be that they would fill the otter's skin with red gold, then cover it with yellow gold until it was completely hidden from sight. Odin did so, but Fafnir claimed that more gold was needed since he could still see one of Ótr's whiskers. Loki chipped in the final piece of gold with Andvaranaut, a golden ring which he had stolen from Andvari and which Andvari had cursed to bring destruction to whoever held it. Thus making this legend an impressive triple play of dick moves for Loki: stealing a ring, killing Ótr, and then using the cursed ring he stole to pay off the family of the guy he killed. I mean even for Loki that's got to be some kind of record.
> 
> At any rate, the curse quickly kicked in to cause strife amongst Hreidmar's sons; Fafnir killed his father, stole the ring, and then turned himself into a dragon to drive Regin away so that he could keep the ring for himself. So, yeah, that's going to be an awkward Thanksgiving.
> 
> The Norse hero Sigund killed the dragon Fafnir later with the sword (not axe) Gram. So the moral of the story is: don't let greed overcome your better sense, or you'll turn into a dragon and kill your family. And never, *ever* ask Loki for *anything.*


End file.
